High School

Sawtooth U15 Boys' Team Captures US Lacrosse West
Championship

Sawtooth player Tim Berard (12) led all
U15 boys' players with 11 goals while winning the championship
title.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – They came, they
played, and they conquered. Sawtooth (Idaho) boys' under-15 team
made the trip from Boise to play in a one-day tournament to go
undefeated and walk away with a championship title. The team
claimed the title with a decisive 14-6 over the Santa Monica
(Calif.) Dragons, June 27 at the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports
Center.

Sawtooth Head Coach Jim Troy, a Massachusetts native and former
Union College (N.Y.) lacrosse player, brought his team to
California with the expectation of improving his team's lacrosse
maturity and IQ.

"I don't think about that [winning games]," Troy said. "What I
tell my kids is the only thing I want them to focus on is their
lacrosse maturity, their IQ. You know making good decisions,
shooting and passing. Having expectations [of winning before going
into a tournament] is probably not a good thing, you just want to
improve the team, that's it."

With equal playing time throughout the entire tournament for all
players, who Troy stated are "all really dominant," he did believe
that midfielder, Tim Berard stepped up and stood out this
tournament. With 11 goals in four games, Berard put on a scoring
show leading his team and all players in the U15 boys'
division.

Berard ripped back-to-back goals in the championship game from
outside top right with less than two minutes in the half. With
practice and some help from his brother, Berard has become a
scoring pro.

"I mostly learned how to play from my brother, he got me into
the game," Berard said. "I've also learned a lot from my offensive
coordinator and Rocky Mountain High School where I just finished up
my freshman year on varsity."

A midfielder turned attacker this year, Berard cherishes the
opportunity to play with this U15 team in one last tournament.
Luckily his last experience ended with a championship title.

"As our goal, we wanted to do everything right and try to be
perfect, and you can't be, but I think we did a good job at it,"
Berard said. "I'm glad I got to play this U15 team and glad I came
to play in what will probably be my last tournament with them. I'm
really glad I got to come here and play with my friends, we just
had a good time."

Sticking to his mantra of equal playing time, even for the
championship win, Coach Troy believed his team was successful in
more ways than one.

"Every player got the exact same amount of playing time this
entire tournament. It was a great success in terms of getting all
of my kids experience and playing time. The more playing time the
better, especially when you travel. I don't like playing favorites
and I don't like playing with travel teams especially because
everyone pays the money to come to these tournaments and play. I
like equal playing time; it doesn't matter what the outcome
is."

A championship win was just icing on the cake.

"At the end of the day though, it's a championship and we'll
take it."